Throwback Thursday Archives - Gizmochina

Throwback Tech Thursday: Revisiting Nokia 1100 – The Indestructible Phone

Sean — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 13:40:21 +0000

In our last couple of throwbacks, we had revisited a few smartphones. But today, we’re going a bit further back in the past, namely the early 2000s. This was the time when Nokia was still king, and now, we’ll be covering one of its most iconic phones ever, the indestructible Nokia 1100.

What made the Nokia 1100 Special?

Simply put, the popularity of this phone might be unmatched by even some of the most well known models from the Finnish brand. It has an almost mythic status in the realm of phones. Back when it launched in 2003, the 1100 wasn’t the most powerful or even the most attractive looking device. However, what it lacked in appeal, it made up in various different aspects. It was a user friendly handset that was quite popular in every market that it was available in.

This holds especially true for the developing nations. Getting this out of the way now, the Nokia 1100 is the world’s best selling phone ever. It sold over 250 million units since its launch in 2003. It was so popular that it remained in production till late 2009. As mentioned above, it wasn’t the most powerful device back then, and lacked many of the advanced or modern features other handsets offered. But, it was built to work all across the globe, and banked heavily on its affordability and reliability; and let’s just say, it was quite reliable.

Apart from being the most popular device, the Nokia 1100 has a legend built around it based on its durability. It was touted for being tough and no one in the world ever worried about how they were handling it. The handset was designed with global market in mind and offered some degree of dust proofing, water proofing, and we all known, its tough as a brick. Also, the phone could last for hundreds of hours in a single full charge.

Impact & Future Influence

Following the launch of the Nokia 1100, the brand had tapped a vast market all across the globe. Many developing nations still had phone markets in nascent stages. So, the 1100 was the very first phone for many. Talking about India alone, the device’s affordable and reliable stature propelled it to the top. Now, even people in rural areas had access to a phone and it was especially perfect for the those that did not need anything more than the basic calling, messaging, alarm clock, reminder, and other such basic functions.

Although, you could still play some games on the device and it even had a torch that was a big selling point in many places. Nokia sold its billionth phone back in 2005, and you guessed it, the model was a Nokia 1100 that was purchased in Nigeria. While the company did offer similar phones back then, the 1100 was its cheapest model, which helped it enter various markets across the globe. So, its quite evident regarding the impacts of this device. And for the future, the company used its success to release a number of similarly specced phones after it. But while none of these saw the same level of success, it became clear that Nokia was the go to brand for a reliable and affordable phone. In essence, it helped cement Nokia as the market leader.

Design, Specs, & Price

Talking about its build first, the 1100 had a very basic and to-the-point design. It featured the company’s traditional style navigational keypad, which included a single button to end or receive calls, bi-directional keys, and vibrating alert. The device had a built in torch and had a C button that when pressed twice, locked the phone, and holding it would activate the torch. Interestingly, despite having an uninspired and basic look, the company offered the device in a number of color variants through the Xpress-On covers. This included a light blue, orange, black, dark blue, yellow, red, green and pink versions.

It had a monochrome display that supports 4 lines and had a resolution of just 96 x 65 pixels and 3:2 aspect ratio. It had a candybar form factor with soft keys and was powered by a 850mAh battery pack that was removable. None of these features would impress anyone now, but back in the day when phones were a luxury, a sub 100 US Dollar phone was perfect for many.

Throwback Tech Thursday: Revisting Nokia Lumia 1020 – The DSLR Camera Smartphone

Sean — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 12:46:32 +0000

This week, we are going to revisit a very unique Nokia smartphone. It is the Lumia 1020, which was a part of the brand’s Windows Phone lineup. However, the reason this device is fondly remembered isn’t for its design or software. Its was unique because of its large DSLR like camera on the rear. So lets take a look.

What made the Nokia Lumia 1020 Special?

Back when the Lumia 1020 launched, smartphone camera weren’t as great as they are now. Furthermore, cameras were barely breaking past 13 to 16 megapixel sensors range. But then came the Lumia 1020, with a whopping 41 megapixel sensor on the rear. Again, this might not seem too impressive but back in 2013, this device was easily often crowned as one of the best camera smartphones in the market and was constantly compared to DSLR cameras that offered a similar megapixel count sensor.

The device was quite recognizable back then as well. Nowadays we are used to seeing large island sized camera modules on the rear, but in 2013, you saw a lone sensor on the back sitting almost seamlessly with the rear panel. In other words, camera bump wasn’t as prominent yet. However, the Finnish phone maker launched the device with a huge circular module. While some found it unsightly, it housed the large camera module that was its most highlighting feature. This camera was also complemented by a camera app that received a lot of praise owing to its great user interface that was quite easy to use. Meaning, even beginners could shoot great pictures in manual mode thanks to the intuitive camera app design.

While megapixel count isn’t everything when it came to image quality, Nokia employed a number of techniques to make sure that the Lumia 1020 fully utilized the camera’s potential. The idea behind the sensor was to capture as much details that was possible to create the single best shot. Despite having a 41 megapixel sensor, the image output was only 5 megapixel as the device combined 8 megapixels into one. Nokia called this super sampling technology and marketed it as PureView. This even enabled the device to offer 4x zoom without losing quality and save images in RAW format as well.

Impact & Future Influence

I’m sure at this point you’ve realized that all of these features are not ground breaking now, since it is practically a standard in modern smartphones. But, the process of combining multiple megapixels into one for better quality and lossless zoom was quite innovative. Some would even say, this camera technology was popularized by Nokia. Now, we see smartphones arriving with 64 megapixel sensors that output shots in 16 megapixel through pixel binning.

In other words, the Lumia 1020 was one of the earliest examples of brands using larger megapixel count for better image quality. The camera app’s manual mode (commonly known as Pro mode nowadays) was also quite innovative back then. A lot of the interface elements can still be traced back to the Lumia 1020. While the smartphone wasn’t one of the best selling models back in 2013, it still held its own against other favorites in the same year, like the HTC One (M7) and the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Design, Specs, & Price

Although the camera was the highlighting aspect of the smartphone, it wasn’t as fondly remembered for a lot of other aspects. While the device did stand out, it wasn’t as impressive like the HTC One in terms of design, but it wasn’t terrible either. It feature a rectangular design with rounded edges that was mostly smooth except the camera bump. The rear panel is made by polycarbonate materials and arrived in Black, White, and Yellow color options.

It sported a 4.5 inch display PureMotionHD+ AMOLED display that had Gorilla Glass 3 protection on top. On the rear, it featured the large 41 megapixel camera that featured Carl Zeiss optics, paired with a Xenon and LED flash. This sensor had a 1/1.5 inch sensor size along with optical image stabilization. The front only offered a 1.2 megapixel selfie camera. Under the hood, the device packed Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus paired with 2GB of RAM and up to 64GB of internal storage.

The Nokia Lumia 1020 was powered by a 2,000mAh battery pack. Notably, the device ran on Microsoft Windows Phone 8, which was upgradable to 8.1. Back when it first launched in July 2013, the device was available for 299 US Dollars, which was thought to be quite expensive. Although, the company soon slashed prices owing to the model struggling in the market. So, some were even able to grab the device for around 99 US Dollars on contract.

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Throwback Tech Thursday: Revisiting the HTC One (M7) – The BoomBox Metal Phone

Sean — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 13:37:08 +0000

While HTC isn’t a major figure in the smartphone market nowadays, it used to be a popular brand that was known for its premium grade flagship handsets. A good example of this is undoubtedly the HTC One (M7), so let’s look back at what made this device standout from the lot.

What made the HTC One (M7) Special?

With the launch of the HTC One (starting from the M7), the Taiwanese company had showcased that it was far ahead in certain aspects compared to its rivals. This was especially true in terms of hardware. The One M7 was launched back in February of 2013 and was met with an overall positive reception for a number of reasons, despite it technically failing in the market, commercially speaking. In its launch year, many articles had surfaced talking about the best smartphones of the year, and the HTC One made the list every time, if not outright topping it.

Its iconic metallic unibody was one of its highlighting features. Keep in mind, this design was a novelty back when plastic rear panels were still common in flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and glass panels were just emerging as well. Even by today’s standards, the phone has a solid build quality, which was further complemented by the company’s Sense software. This was the custom skin that ran on top of Android OS and was one of the best UI’s back when stock Android wasn’t considered too appealing.

During the time of its launch, Samsung was dominating the high end Android market with the Galaxy S4, but the HTC One M7 was thought to be a close competitor in the same segment. Reviewers were divided between the two phones, but many had even agreed that the One M7 was in a league of its own in terms of design and build quality.

Impact & Future Influence

While a metallic body and stereo speakers are not ground breaking features any more, HTC’s One series helped in influencing the industry and popularized them. In 2013, stereo speakers weren’t as common, and its partnership with Beats Audio for its BoomSound speakers was iconic as well. Furthermore, the smartphone was touted for its unique user experience, with its HTC BlinkFeed receiving a lot of praises. The BlinkFeed is positioned on the left of the home screen, which is a common feature in modern day Android smartphones.

This feature also tied in with social media apps, or even news feeds as well for up to date info related to politics, sports, and much more. So, it is clear that the HTC One has made its mark in the smartphone industry. While the UltraPixel camera technology did not deliver the performance it had claimed, the company did bet right on the concept that larger megapixel count isn’t everything. Rather, a larger aperture and pixel size helps in letting in more light, which helps in better low light performance. In the future, other brands would follow suit and ship their devices with image sensors that have larger pixel sizes to offer a better photographic experience.

Design, Specs, & Price

The HTC One M7 sported a 4.7 inch LCD screen with a FHD resolution. It had a large notch and chin, which houses the dual front facing stereo speakers. The top notch also featured the 2.1 megapixel selfie camera. While the smartphone is nearly a decade old, its display had a 469ppi pixel density that allowed for a crisp viewing experience. Under the hood, it ran on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 SoC, paired with 2GB of RAM and up to 64GB of internal storage. This was a flagship chip in 2013, since Qualcomm hadn’t launched its Snapdragon 800 series yet.

On the rear, it featured a 4 megapixel camera, which had OIS support and a pixel size of 2µm (hence the name UltraPixel). It was powered by a 2300mAh battery pack that was non removable, which also wasn’t common nearly 10 years ago. As mentioned above, the design of the HTC One M7 helped it stand out in the crowd, which was even more evident in its brighter color options like Red, Blue, Gold. The smartphone had launched with a price tag of 650 Euros (roughly 743 US Dollars). In other words, it was quite expensive. But back then, it offered an experience like no other.

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Throwback Tech Thursday: Revisiting Motorola Rokr Z6, the Stylish Music Phone

Sean — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 12:28:39 +0000

Looking at the voting results from our last two Throwback Tech Thursday, we noticed that you guys asked us to revisit the Motorola Rokr Z6 twice. So now, we are looking back at another one of Moto’s iconic phones from back in the day.

What made the Moto Rokr Z6 Special?

We had previously covered the popular Moto Razr V3 under our Throwback Tech category. That model was the definition of style in the early 2000s. However, with the Rokr series, the company placed its focus on multimedia tools, which did not break the bank. The Rokr Z6 was launched back in January 2007 and was even well received for its design, despite not being made from the same all metal build as the Razr. Reviewers back then praised its straight layout, which made it easy to use but with a look that turned heads.

Apart from just featuring a polished design, it also came with the latest generation of user interface and Linux based operating system as well, which was dubbed MOTOMAGX. It also offered text and multimedia messaging, a calculator, a calendar, and an alarm clock. Unlike the Nokia 6600 and N95, it did not offer a whole suit of smartphone like features, but its unique design and was definitely popular back in the day when specs weren’t everything and phones were more “fun.”

Impact & Future Influence

In our previous Moto throwback, we had talked about how the brand had made waves in the industry with the premium design on some of its phone. So, while the Razr series changed the game with their unique build, the Rokr series paired the company’s experience of making attractive phones with multimedia functionality at a relatively affordable price. In the early 2000s, phones usually resembled bricks and were unwieldy at times. But Motorola clearly took a different path. During the time of the Rokr Z6 launch, you would see a number of its advertisements on TV highlighting its slider design and multimedia features, which led to new successors launching with similar design later down the road.

Design, Specs, & Price

While the Razr featured the flip phone design that was beloved by many, the Rokr Z6 sported a sliding one. The device was quite compact thanks to its slider mechanism that hides its keypad when not in use. On the front, it featured a 2.1 inch TFT LCD screen that had a 320 x 250px resolution. Meanwhile, the rear housed a 2 megapixel camera with LED flash. Being a music phone, it featured a dedicated Music button along with the usual back key, four way D-pad, and the answer and cancel buttons as well.

Under the hood, a 528 MHz CPU powered the device, which also featured 64MB of SDRAM and 64MB of storage that can be expanded up to 2GB via a microSD card slot. Other features include, Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack, a mini USB port, and even had Windows Media Player 11 on the Z6m model (CDMA enabled version). It housed a 720mAh battery pack and also weighed 105 grams. This was believed to be heavy in those days. At launch, the Moto Rokr Z6 was available for around 90 Euros or around 120 US Dollars in 2007.

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Throwback Tech Thursday: Revisiting Nokia N95, One of the best early smartphone

Sean — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 12:57:48 +0000

Based on our previous Throwback Tech Thursday‘s voting results, the Nokia N95 has topped the list. So now, lets revisit the device that some considered to be the peak of Symbian and also one of the best early smartphone.

What made it Special?

One of the things that made the N95 stand out was that it was packed to the brim with features. The device first launched back in March 2007 and did almost everything that modern smartphones are capable of. While this was also the year that the original iPhone had released, it only turned heads with its full touchscreen design and interface. On the other hand, the N95 launched with a whole suit of features like video recording games library, and more.

The Nokia N95 is also quite memorable as a camera phone as well, with its 5 megapixel sensor with Carl Zeiss Tessar lens offering picture quality that trampled over most of its rivals. Notably, it could even record “DVD quality” video with VGA recordings at 30fps. While this might not seem impressive, only a handful of phones back then were even capable of this feature. Similar to the Nokia 6600, the N95 was a powerhouse in its time and could run 3D games from the N-Gage mobile gaming services. Keep in mind, the iPhone didn’t even have an App Store till a year after its launch, so it was clearly ahead of the curve back then.

Another major aspect that had it stand out was a selfie camera. Even in the early days of Android smartphones, there were some models that skipped the front camera entirely, so a Symbian phone featuring this technology also showcased how much effort and features the Finnish brand put into the device, and we haven’t even gotten to the slider part yet. Remember iPods, well modern smartphones have basically killed the need for a separate media player, but iPods were still a thing back then and existed alongside the iPhone. But this handset also had dedicated media control buttons that appeared by sliding down, meaning, you didn’t have to buy a separate media player.

Impact & Future Influence

As we mentioned above, the mobile industry was abuzz after its launch. The Nokia N95 was a huge success when it released in most regions. The company managed to sell over 7 million units by the end of 2007. Furthermore, it launched a new 8GB variant in the first quarter of 2008, which also saw 3 million sales. While this doesn’t compare to the behemoth sales of the 6600 over its lifetime, it still managed to outpace everyone of its competitors at the time. It was even crowned as the “best smartphone ever” by AllAboutSymbian.

Some of its features even went on to become industry staples. Always On Display, a feature beloved by many smartphone users today, is something that also made an early appearance with the N95. It even offered wired connections that allowed users to play movies on TVs from the mobile phone itself. Back in 2020, it was revealed that the company was also working on a new N95 model, however, the modern day reboot was never officially launched. This device would’ve also featured the iconic slider design, but for large stereo speakers rather than dedicated media buttons.

Unfortunately, while the phone holds fond memories for many, it is also referred to as the peak of Symbian before its decline. The iPhone with its radical all touchscreen interface and design soon managed to become a market leader and cause a shift in the industry. Additionally, Symbian and Nokia’s dominance slowly started declining after its launch. But the N95 was an undoubtedly impactful device, with modern day features having roots within the phone that is more than a decade old.

Design, Specs, & Price

Just like its predecessors, the N95 featured an iconic design that is immediately recognizable just like the 6600 owing to its popularity at the time. It was a slider phone that offered users two functionalities. Sliding up would reveal the keypad, while sliding down put the device into media mode with dedicated buttons. It also featured its traditional square like orientation for its buttons just under the display, which was a norm for the brand back then.

Talking about its specifications, it housed a 332 MHz Dual ARM 11 CPU, which was paired with up to 8GB of internal storage and 128MB of RAM. The device ran on Symbian OS 9.2 and was powered by a 1,200mAh battery pack (950mAh on the non-8GB variant). It was also one of the first devices to feature an Accelerometer, which was used to wake the device when being shaken and for some games too. Other features include GPS navigation, which again was an impressive feature back then, along with a 3.5mm headphone jack as well.

It sported a 2.8 inch TFT display with 240 x 320 pixel resolution and a 4:3 aspect ratio. Thanks to its PowerVR MBX GPU, the device could also run Quake III, Asphalt 3 or FIFA 2007, and even display it on the TV. The Nokia N95 first launched for a price of 550 Euros or around 730 US Dollars back then. This is a steep price tag even by today’s standards, but it was a premium grade high end handset.

We noticed a number of our readers shared their thoughts on the 6600 Throwback from last week, so we’d love to hear more from those that used the N95 as well in the comments section down below.

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Previous Throwback Tech Thursday Coverage:

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Throwback Tech Thursday: Revisiting the Pocket PC, Nokia 6600

Sean — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 14:10:40 +0000

With the consumer technology field growing and developing every year, we often see new smartphones release with cutting edge hardware and innovations. So, it can be quite refreshing to revisit these iconic devices from the past and see the influence they left behind. That’s exactly why we are bringing back our Throwback Tech Thursdays segment in 2022 and our first smartphone from the past is the best-selling Nokia 6600.

Nokia, a veteran in the mobile phone industry, isn’t the dominating figure it once was. However, its influence and impact in the market can never be overlooked as some of its older models still have an almost mythic status. One of these iconic offerings was the Nokia 6600, which was among the first real “smartphones”.

What made it Special?

For those familiar with the device, the reasons for its iconic stature is clear. However, the true impact of the Nokia 6600 is far deeper. During the early 2000s, the term ‘smartphones’ had just been coined, with Nokia and Blackberry being market leaders in the segment. These devices offered a number of features that weren’t available on most other mobile phones back then. This included something even as basic as an internet connection.

Notably, Nokia 6600 was the most advanced product from the company at the time of its release. It launched back in October 2003 and ran on Symbian OS 7 with features like music player, video player, camera, memory expansion, web browsing, and more. While these aren’t ground breaking by today’s standards, keep in mind that this was nearly 20 years ago. Back then, one would rarely have access to any of these features unless they had a desktop PC.

Meaning, this device offered the full multimedia suite that is the standard of the industry now. Having personally used this device, I remember spending hours watching videos and movies on the 6600 since it also supported an external memory card as well. The Finnish brand even offered a number of mobile games on it that worked really well with its overall button layout and its joystick. These games took advantage of this for controls, which made it similar to the layout of early game controllers that only had a single joystick. One could even install a wide range of third party software such as mp3 and multimedia players, as well as games, and different themes. So, you could’ve had a personalized experience back then too. It was quite literally marketed as a pocket PC.

Impact & Future Influence

Everyone knows the huge impact of the first iPhone, but if there was a top 10 list for the most influential devices, the Nokia 6600 easily makes the cut. It made waves when it launched and changed the way people looked at mobile phones. Rather than a device for just making calls, you now carried a pocket media player and game console in your pocket. It was so popular and capable, that the brand continued its production and sale all the way till 2007.

So it’s no surprise that the Nokia 6600 is one of the best selling devices of all times. During its lifetime, it sold over 150 million units across the globe. Following its launch, it was clear that rival brands would have to offer specs and features matching this device. Furthermore, features available in flagship devices like the 6600 soon trickled down to the company’s relatively affordable offerings soon after as well, which further helped cement Nokia’s position as the market leader.

Design, Specs, & Price

Being such a popular device, the 6600 was easily recognizable. It had a thick body that some referred to as a small, rounded ‘brick.’ But this usually hinted at its durability and heft, rather than it being unwieldy. A part of its success can also be attributed to its button offerings and keypad layout, which was unique in its own regard. At the time, many phones offered dedicated buttons to navigate through the apps and menus, but the 6600 had a 5 way joystick that made navigation more convenient and gaming more fun as well. It even worked well with the multimedia players as well.

Talking about its specs, it sported a 2.16-inch TFT display with a 176 x 208 resolution. Its chip ran at 104MHz clock speed, and it had 6MB of internal storage. Although its VGA camera wasn’t too powerful by today’s standards, it was a highlighting feature back then since it even supported video recording as well as 2x digital zoom. Being a flagship product, it was an expensive phone that launched for around 600 Euros back in 2003 or about 690 US Dollars. Although, it saw price cuts a while after its release and became even more affordable in the following years as well, which added to its popularity.

I’m sure many of our readers would easily recognize this device and may have had personal experiences with it as well. We’d love to hear more from you guys, so share some of your fond memories with this phone in the comments section down below.

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Previous Throwback Tech Thursday Coverage:

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Throwback Tech Thursday: T-Mobile Pulse and Pulse Mini – A Huawei Affair?

Joel Joseph — Thu, 12 Sep 2019 18:16:51 +0000

Early last year, Huawei was all set to make a big announcement at CES. For the first time ever in the U.S., the telecommunications giant was going to launch its smartphone through a carrier. Just when things were looking good for the Chinese smartphone maker, the U.S. carrier that was supposed to launch its phone, backed out. The relationship between Huawei and U.S. companies has deteriorated ever since with the latest blow being the inability to even use Google apps on its new smartphones.

But outside of the U.S., T-Mobile still sells Huawei smartphones. And their relationship is actually pretty old, with the carrier selling Huawei rebranded Android phones as far back as 2009! And when did it all begin? With Huawei’s first Android smartphone!

It was the year 2009, and Huawei was still young in the smartphone market. But the company was determined to make its mark in the industry. It was one of the first smartphone makers to jump on the Android bandwagon. After the world’s first Android smartphone, the HTC Dream aka T-Mobile G1 was released in February 2009, T-Mobile launched another Android model, this time made by Huawei, in October 2009.

Back when the T-Mobile Pulse (also known as the Huawei U8220) was launched in the market, it was one of the cheapest Android phones available. Another highlight of the phone was its large 3.5-inch display. In comparison, the HTC Dream featured a slightly smaller 3.2-inch panel. And with a responsive touch screen display and HVGA 480 x 320-pixel resolution, the phone offered pretty good features for its starting £185 price in the UK. T-Mobile UK also offered a £19.99 + £10 top up on PAYG (Pay As You Go) plan, making it extremely cheap for first time Android adopters. In case you noticed, the Pulse was launched in the UK and some other markets in Europe, and not in the U.S.

⇒ Editor’s Pick: Huawei may come with a solution for adding Google apps on Mate 30 series

T-Mobile Pulse offered an excellent Android experience at an Affordable Price

The Pulse came with a 3.5-inch HVGA display which was pretty good for its time. The phone, made out of plastic, was slightly curved at the back. There was a unique carbon fiber pattern on the back of the phone which looked cool. What made it even cooler was that the phone’s theme had a similar Carbon fiber pattern.

Along with touchscreen input, you could use its trackball and home and back buttons to navigate through the Android OS. It ran Android 1.5 Cupcake with Google Apps installed. You could update it up to Android 2.1 Eclair, with custom ROMs further bringing v2.2 to the device. There were two more buttons on either side of the trackball, a call button on the left and an end button on the right. There were also volume buttons as well as a dedicated camera shutter button. The phone supported MicroSD cards, with a 2GB card coming right inside the box.

Interestingly, Huawei decided to use a 2.5mm headphone jack on the device, instead of the traditional 3.5mm jack. But it was generous enough to provide a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter so that you could listen to music with your everyday headphones. There was a decent 1500mAh battery on board, which wasn’t great but did the job of keeping the phone running for a day. The 3.2MP camera was nothing to boast about. There was a low-resolution front camera as well for video calls.

A highlight of the T-Mobile Pulse was its 3G support. For its low price, it brought HSPA speeds along with other connectivity features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and even A-GPS.

T-Mobile Pulse had a ‘Mini’ Version Too!

The original Pulse seems to have done well to warrant a release of a T-Mobile Pulse ‘Mini’ version. This mini model was released in May 2010 with a tiny 2.5-inch display with lower resolution but still supporting HSPA 3G speeds. The phone came with the Snapdragon S1 processor with a 3.15MP rear camera, a dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack, A-GPS, and Android 2.1 Eclair out of the box. Oh, there was no selfie camera on this model, unlike the larger ‘Pulse’ sibling.

Huawei entered the Android market with these low-end models that many of us don’t even remember. But the company has used the same Android platform to grow into the world’s second-largest smartphone maker, leaving behind big names such as Apple and Nokia.

It is enlightening to see how Huawei started its journey in the Android ecosystem with a carrier partnership from T-Mobile. But now, it might have to drop the very thing that pushed it to the top of the smartphone market. And it took just ten years for this to happen.

Huawei could be forced to switch from Android to its own HarmonyOS in the coming months. And if things get worse, jumping off the Android bandwagon could be its only option.

UP NEXT: Huawei P40 could come running HarmonyOS out-of-the-box, hints CEO Richard Yu

Check out some of our previous Throwback Tech Thursday articles below!

The post Throwback Tech Thursday: T-Mobile Pulse and Pulse Mini – A Huawei Affair? appeared first on Gizmochina.